Leviticus chapter 14

Cleansing after recovery from an infectious skin disease. Cleansing an infected house.

Note: Many people find it morally objectionable that a religion requires the killing of innocent animals.

CLEANSING AFTER RECOVERY FROM AN INFECTIOUS SKIN DISEASE

VERSE 1. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Moses. These regulations for ceremonial cleansing were delivered through Moses.

VERSE 2. “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest,

THE TWO-BIRD RITUAL OUTSIDE THE CAMP

VERSE 3. and the priest shall go out of the camp. The priest shall examine him. Behold, if the plague of leprosy is healed in the leper,

go out of the camp. This ritual takes place outside the camp.

VERSE 4. then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.

two living clean birds. These two birds represent a healed person.

VERSE 5. The priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.

command them to kill. The priest commands the recovered person to kill a bird.

VERSE 6. As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.

the living bird. This living bird represents a healed Israelite.

dip them and the living bird in the blood. A living bird is submerged into a pool of blood from its dead companion.

This is gruesome. And cruel.

VERSE 7. He shall sprinkle on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field.

sprinkle on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times. This reminds us of the prophet Elisha instructing Naaman of Syria:

2 Kings 5:10. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean.”

CEREMONIAL WASHING

VERSE 8. “He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days.

The recovered person must do three things:

wash his clothes

shave off all his hair

bathe himself in water

VERSE 9. It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water. Then he shall be clean.

on the seventh day. Those three things are to be done on the seventh day.

On the seventh day, the infestation is over. The person rises to right membership in the community.

On the seventh day, the human infestation of sin was over. The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the grave.

SACRIFICES INSIDE THE SANCTUARY

VERSE 10. “On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without defect, one ewe lamb a year old without defect, three tenths of an efah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and one log of oil.

an efah. One efah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel.

one log. A log is a liquid measure of about 300 ml or 10 ounces.

VERSE 11. The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

at the door of the Tent of Meeting. An offering has to be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

VERSE 12. “The priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer him for a trespass offering, with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD.

VERSE 13. He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.

VERSE 14. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

ear … thumb … toe. Even the lesser parts of our body are important to the LORD God:

the tip of the right ear

the thumb of his right hand

the big toe of his right foot

Any individual part of our body can serve God in its own way.

VERSE 15. The priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.

VERSE 16. The priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.

VERSE 17. The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering.

VERSE 18. The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD.

VERSE 19. “The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering;

VERSE 20. then the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR A POOR PERSON

VERSE 21. “If he is poor, and can’t afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an efah of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil;

If he is poor. The LORD God continually provides a way for poor people.

an efah. One efah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel.

a log. A log is a liquid measure of about 300 ml or 10 ounces.

VERSE 22. and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.

VERSE 23. “On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before the LORD.

VERSE 24. The priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD.

VERSE 25. He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

VERSE 26. The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand;

VERSE 27. and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD.

VERSE 28. Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.

VERSE 29. The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.

VERSE 30. He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, which ever he is able to afford,

VERSE 31. of the kind he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the LORD.”

VERSE 32. This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing.

CLEANSING AN INFECTED HOUSE

VERSE 33. The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

VERSE 34. “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession,

and I put a spreading mildew in a house. This reads as if the LORD God is the one who infests a house with mildew.

VERSE 35. then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘There seems to me to be some sort of plague in the house.’

VERSE 36. The priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the plague, that all that is in the house not be made unclean. Afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house.

VERSE 37. He shall examine the plague; and behold, if the plague is in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and it appears to be deeper than the wall,

VERSE 38. then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.

VERSE 39. The priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the plague has spread in the walls of the house,

VERSE 40. then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the plague, and cast them into an unclean place outside of the city.

VERSE 41. He shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped all over. They shall pour out the mortar that they scraped off outside of the city into an unclean place.

VERSE 42. They shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house.

VERSE 43. “If the plague comes again, and breaks out in the house after he has taken out the stones, and after he has scraped the house, and after it was plastered,

VERSE 44. then the priest shall come in and look; and behold, if the plague has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew in the house. It is unclean.

VERSE 45. He shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house’s mortar. He shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place.

VERSE 46. “Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening.

VERSE 47. He who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

VERSE 48. “If the priest shall come in, and examine it, and behold, the plague hasn’t spread in the house, after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.

VERSE 49. To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.

VERSE 50. He shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.

VERSE 51. He shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

VERSE 52. He shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, with the living bird, with the cedar wood, with the hyssop, and with the scarlet;

VERSE 53. but he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house; and it shall be clean.”

SUMMARY

VERSE 54. This is the law for any plague of leprosy, and for an itch,

VERSE 55. and for the destructive mildew of a garment, and for a house,

VERSE 56. and for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot;

VERSE 57. to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean.
This is the law of leprosy.

Author: todd

At Explore the Faith, I share insights into the Bible and theological writings. If you like what I write, become my partner by donating. Help me reach the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.
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